1
To the attention of:
Frans TIMMERMANS - Executive Vice President European Commission Kadri SIMON - Commissioner Energy European Commission
Pascal CANFIN – Chair ENVI Committee European Parliament
Cristian-Silviu BUŞOI – President ITRE Committee European Parliament
nn June 2021
The indispensable role for bioenergy and biofuels in the Green Transition
Achieving a climate neutral and circular economy is one important goal of the European Green Deal.
The bioeconomy which includes a major flow of bioenergy is part of this circular economy. By introducing well designed value chains, bioenergy has high potential to complement and add value while improving the sustainability of agriculture, forestry and other sectors. In addition, bioenergy can play a vital role in rural development, providing many jobs and income throughout Europe and facilitating the Just Transition Mechanism (JTM), and at the same time maintaining global leadership of European industry and scientific communities in all technology fields of bioenergy.
The transport sector which remains dominated by fossil fuels will need significant amounts of advanced biofuels, biomethane, electrofuels and hydrogen alongside electrification to achieve its decarbonization target. Europe cannot afford to pick winners among these options since all options are needed.
Advanced biofuels will be of utmost importance in the near- and medium-term to defossilize aviation, shipping and long-distance heavy road transport, using biogenic carbon, where other options are less suitable. In addition, bioenergy is a key element in the electricity system for balancing variable forms of renewable energies, such as wind and solar. The synergies with hydrogen and BECCS/CCU of CO2 are promising. BECCU is a promising option for carbon-neutrality, while BECCS can even achieve negative CO2 emissions when using sustainably sourced biomass. BECCS is the only industrial-scale option for negative CO2 emissions, while significantly reduced emissions can be achieved through innovative crop rotation schemes, cover cropping, and biochar deployment.
In recent times a toxic, unbalanced and misleading debate around biomass and bioenergy has questioned the validity of this energy source based on questionable sustainability concerns. When judging energy systems, it is crucial to have a holistic and fact-based system approach that recognizes the synergies and links between different resources, carriers and final uses. Bioenergy is today the most regulated energy sector when it comes to environmental protection under the RED and the bioenergy stakeholders are proactive leaders in reducing the GHG emissions of bioenergy while expanding its contribution to Europe’s energy system.
As meeting the climate targets is a priority for all, it is now time to focus on a constructive way forward.
Today, bioenergy is a central part of climate mitigation in Europe, representing over half of the renewable energy sources used. And there can be no climate deal without biomass management and use.
In order to achieve our ambitions under the Green Deal it is imperative to continue to build a strong bioenergy industry in Europe based on sound sustainability criteria, which take all considerations - including biodiversity, soil and water as well as employment, income and links with materials and chemistry - into account. It is also essential to foster the positive sustainability impacts bioenergy – and the bioeconomy as a whole - can have.
2 The undersigned participants of EUBCE (European Biomass Conference and Exhibition) urges all actors, including the European Commission, the European Parliament and national governments, to ensure that the role of bioenergy is recognized and prioritized consistently in the revisions of existing policies and directives as well as the development of new policies and strategies under the European Green Deal.
The views expressed here are purely those of the authors and may not, under any circumstances, be regarded as an official position of the European Commission.
Initial signatories and initiators Patrik Klintbom
Uwe R. Fritsche Guillaume Boissonnet David Chiaramonti Kyriakos Maniatis Angela Grassi Maurizio Cocchi Supporters
Abderrahim BOUAID Francis X. JOHNSON Marilene FUHRMANN Adrian IRIMESCU Franziska MÜLLER-LANGER Mario A. ROSATO
Agapi DIMA Frederik RONSSE Martin JUNGINGER
Albert FISCHER Gawel SOLOWSKI Massimo PORTIOLI
Alessandra CAMELO Georg MARKOWZ Mateusz SZUL
Alma CAPA Ghislain ESCHASSERIAUX Mercedes BALLESTEROS
Ana Luisa FERNANDO Giorgio ROSSINI Michael JONES
Andrea MONTI Giorgio ZAMBONI Michal WOJCIESZYK
Andrea SONNLEITNER Giulio RODIO Mika Aalto
Andreas EWALD Hannariina HONKANEN Mohammadali EBRAHIMI-NIK
Andreas KIESEL Hannelore CANTZLER Muddasser INAYAT
Andreas Rudi Hannelore CANTZLER Nannan Wu
Andrew JACKSON Hans HARTMANN Neeta SHARMA
Andrzej SZAJNER Hans VAN KLINK Niamh KEOGH
Angelica HULL Heinz A. OSSENBRINK Niclas ERICSSON
Anna LYMPERATOU Ignacio HERRAEZ Nikos DAMATIS
Annette COWIE Inés BAUTISTA CARRASCOSA Noemi PECCHIA
Arthur WELLINGER Ireen GEBAUER Olga KATTAN
Babette Flajsner Ivana KRAVIC Olli-Jussi KORPINEN
Bert VAN DE BELD Jaap KIEL Oyvind SKREIBERG
Björn KJELLSTRÖM Jaap VAN HAL Passanun LOMWONGSOPON
Carlotta PANZONE Jan WEGER Paul BENNET
Carola MENA CAMPOVERDE Javier ROYO Pavlina NANOU
Cecilia DUARTE Jean-Pierre PETIT Pedro HARO
Chiara BENETTI Jie XU Philippe MARCHAND
Chris OBI Joaquin DIAZ RENDON Raúl GUTIÉRREZ
Daniel CHERNICK Jochen STRöHLE René VENENDAAL
Daniel David DURÁN-ARANGUREN John Cooper Sanjay JAGTAP
Daniela THRÄN Joop GROEN Sary AWAD
Dirk BONSE Jorge XIBERTA BERNAT Saurav KALITA
3
Dominik RUTZ José Carlos PIRES Shiladitya GHOSH
Donatella BARISANO Josemaria Sanchez-Hervas Silvia PONCE ALVAREZ Edgar A. SILVEIRA Juan Camilo MAHECHA-RIVAS Simon HOFINGER
Elena MAESTRI Juan Esteban CARRASCO Simon MAIER
Emanuela MELIS Judith GONZÁLEZ ARIAS Sonja GERMER Emmanouil Karampinis Katharina FÜRSATZ Stef GHYSELS
Enrico BOCCI Klaus Röhrmoser Steve CROXTON
Eric Charles PETERSON Liliana PAMPILLON-GONZALEZ Svetlana OBYDENKOVA
Erika VAGI Lorenzo MENIN Swanand BHATWADEKAR
Esa VAKKILAINEN Luc PELKMANS Tanja BARTH
Evert BOYMANS Luca CASAMASSIMA Tim SCHULZKE
Evert LEIJENHORST Luciano Vogli Toyese OYEGOKE
Evgenii TIMOFEEV Luis C. DUARTE Ursel HORNUNG
Fiaz AHMAD Luisdomingo GUZMAN Vincenzo ALFANO
Florbela Carvalheiro Lukas JASIUNAS Vladimir HEREDIA
Florian GABLER Mahrokh SAMAVATI Walter ZEGADA-LIZARAZU
Florian LEBENDIG Marco DE OLIVEIRA William TURNER
Frances OKOYE Marco UGOLINI Wolter PRINS
Francesco PATUZZI Maria Helena SANTOS DUARTE LOPES Yara EVANS Francesco ZIMBARDI Maria Teresa GARCIA-CUBERO Yves RYCKMANS
Massimo PORTIOLI Robert DASCHNER Judit SANDQUIST
Jean-Christophe VIGUIE’
